Steampunked
by Miyui blackpen
Summary: In a world based off of the genre steampunk where questions must be asked and no one wants to answer them. This isn't based off the show steampunk'd I feel really bad to deceive like that.
1. Chapter 1 (fixed)

Steam hissed around Aranea as she fixed the build up in the train engine, Wiping sweat from her forehead as she stood and turned. Saying that she was able to fix the problem still gave her a thrill so she hurried to grab her tools and get to the main office and tell the people that had hired her. This wasn't the first time Aranea had been hired by the Wenstons, so she gave almost no thought to where she was going. Knocking on the office door three times Aranea stepped back to give some space. A few seconds later the door was opened by the secretary. Aranea knew him well, as he was the one to hire her each time. They smiled to each other as Aranea passed, and she continued to smile as she walked up to the desk of her employer Mr. Wenston.

"Good afternoon sir, I fixed the train's engine like you asked."

"Thank you Aranea, There haven't been nearly as many problems at the train yard now that we've hired you."

Aranea smiled at the compliment. "Thank you sir, I always try my best." The cliche sentence escaped her mouth without a second thought.

Her employer gave a half hearted smile. "Running the station has become so much easier with you helping. Mr. Vanderbilt has stopped breathing down my neck, but that doesn't make life any easier."

Aranea's smile faltered as she replied "I'm sorry sir, if you ever need my help again just call!" nodded as Aranea walked out of the door. Aranea pressed the down arrow on the elevator and waited for the hiss of steam and opening of gates. After waiting a few minutes she gave up and decided to take the stairs. There were only six flights, just enough for Aranea to go down, and be able to carry her tools without too much pain. After two minutes she made it down the stairs and out of the door and was on the street to her house. It wasn't a bad house but it wasn't the best. The house was all brickwork, with a tan door and a circular window. There were two stories, a small kitchen, and a living room where Aranea slept. Using her key she opened the front door and dropped her tools by the entrance. She walked to the couch and flopped down.

"Hey Aranea." A persuasive tone floated through the air only to reach deaf ears. The voice tried again. "Hey Aranea." This time more commanding. Aranea groaned and turned so her back was facing the voice that was bothering her. The owner of the voice was getting annoyed from the lack of attention coming from Aranea, they decided that this was going to be the last time that they tried to awaken Aranea. "Aranea!"

Aranea gave up and rolled back to face the person. "What?"

The person smiled, they had finally gotten Aranea's attention.

"So I know you have a good job." The tone was back to persuasive again and Aranea knew what was coming. She only groaned in response to get the conversation over with. "Well, the rent needs to get paid, or all three of us will be kicked out." The person stopped and waited for Aranea to make some motion that she was listening.

"And…" Aranea already knew her answer to the question, but she knew if it was going to be accepted she had to play along.

"Well, I spent all of my money saved for the rent on buying this new dress." A sigh escaped Aranea's lips. No matter how hard she tried, every month Nicole used all of her money that she "saved" on some new fashion statement. Ignoring the interruption Nicole went on. "Can you pay my part of the rent?"

"You want me to spend all of my money on the rent while you get to spend it all on yourself? Since the first four months after you moved in I can't remember one time that you actually paid your own rent. You either beg me, or Heather for money that we can't provide you with all the time. Actually I've only gotten seven jobs this month and I'm going to be running low on money after I pay my own rent, there's no way I can pay yours as well."

Nicole turned her back on Aranea and started to stalk away. After a few steps she stopped and turned with a smirk on her face. Aranea had sat up at this point and was worried about what Nicole had in mind. She didn't have to wait long to find out. "You know there are still a few more days before our rent is due, and the science center is always accepting volunteers for experiments. Aranea wanted to either hit Nicole for thinking of sending her to the science center, or curl in a ball for her fear of the rumors of what they do in said centers. Nicole seemed to not care of how Aranea felt and continued. "They always pay you, so you could get a job there and help me pay the rent!"

Aranea stood up and grabbed the front of Nicole's low cut dress and pulled her up off the ground so she was face level. "Nicole I don't care if you are late on rent, and all three of us are kicked out, though I know that they'll only kick you out not all of us. I don't care that you are annoying and keep asking Heather and I for money because you spend it. Although you do a million things that push my buttons, if you EVER mention that 'science center' which is actually a place where they send people to lower the population, I will not hesitate to sign you up." Aranea dropped Nicole and went back to her couch and started to read. Nicole had never seen Aranea so mad, she thought it was just a joke. She had now idea how scared Aranea was of that place, or that she could defend herself when placed in that kind of situation. Aranea made sure that Nicole had gone up to her room before letting out a large puff of air. If Nicole kept this up there would be problems. Aranea had only gotten this house for such a cheap rent because she had promised to fix any problems that came up. Nicole and Heather were some of the nicest people Aranea could find to share the house with, if Nicole was kicked out there would be some problems, problems that Aranea couldn't fix. Maybe she would have to face her fear and enter the science center.


	2. Chapter 2

The sound of the phone ringing awoke Aranea from her sleep on the pull out bed in the couch. After the second ring she raised herself off the bed and started her groggy walk across the room to the steam powered phone on the other side.

"Hello?" Aranea questioned her voice and the person on the other end of the line. They responded with no concern about her voice.

"Hello, this is Mr. Benoit from Mr. Wenston's office," Aranea recognized the secretary's voice and knew that he wouldn't care how she sounded, "is this Ms. Aranea Henderson?"

Aranea nodded before she realized she was on the phone and replied. "Yes it is, how may I help you?"

Mr. Benoit took no time in replying, usually he would chat with Aranea for a few minutes before telling her what she was hired for. "Aranea, the train you fixed was broken, along with a dozen others that you have fixed in the past, we need them all repaired, but we don't have enough to pay you in full right now for all of them. Could you come fix them so people can get to their places on time, and have the company pay you later?"

Aranea thought about it, she needed money so she would have some left over at the end of the month after she paid the rent, and maybe if she got some she could pay for Nicole's rent as well. Not getting paid all at once would also be helpful for paying her next round of rent. She replied with only a few seconds hesitation. "Tell Mr. Wenston that I'll be at his office to receive the list of trains that need to be repaired in an hour."

"Thank you very much Ms. Henderson, I'll let him know." They both hung up as Aranea decided that she would have to pack every tool she had if she was going to be repairing thirteen different trains. She chose the outfit that she usually worked in, took a shower, and grabbed her toolbox. That took her about half an hour so she made a quick breakfast of scrambled eggs on toast, and a water bottle and ate on her way to the station. She arrived right on time to the office door. The door was open so she knocked on it while in the doorway to let Mr. Wenston know that she was there.

He waved her in and as soon as she made it to his desk he handed her the list. "Here you go Ms. Henderson, I hate to make you do this much work, but someone came in a just destroyed the trains. We have no idea who did it, the damage shouldn't be that bad though the police have been called. As long as you can fix it all we won't care who did it." Aranea nodded and left the office with a wave and smile. The first train was on the farthest side of the yard, the side right next to the science center. She had never been on this side, it was nerveracking to be so close to one of the places she feared the most.

She could always do the this train last, or just put it off until later, but it was already 10:30. She didn't have any extra time to come back from another end of the yard, and if she stayed until dark, the science center would be even scarier. Aranea decided to put up with it as she clambered into the train to see what was wrong. After looking around the entire space she decided the problem wasn't inside. She tried to turn on the engine to see if she could locate the problem from where the sounds were loudest. There was a sharp clanking noise coming from the bottom of the train. Aranea winced, not just from the awful sound the train made, but from the thought of going outside near the science center.

So far the center hadn't managed to bother her. She was afraid to leave her comfort zone of the train, but knew that she didn't have enough time to wait. She climbed down the stairs tightening her ponytail. Once she was facing the train she pulled down her brown goggles so that anything in the trains steam wouldn't hurt her eyes. As she slid under the train she immediately saw the problem with the train. The pipe that connected the steam to the engine to create power had been separated. It would take a few minutes to line up correctly, a fairly simple fix. Aranea slid back out from under the train to grab the tools that she would need and was met by a pair of boots.

"Hello Miss. How are you?"

Aranea looked up to see the speaker and saw the one thing she feared most. Standing above her was a man wearing a lab coat with an I.D. badge hanging out of the lower pocket. The badge was eye level with Aranea giving her no choice but to read it. Realizing that she had taken a while to reply she decided to try to stay on the scientist's good side. "I'm good sir, how are you."

He smiled as if she had answered the question correctly and continued the conversation. "My name is Dr. Ely, I work at the science center, may I ask what your name is?"

Aranea was shocked at his manners but quickly composed herself and replied. "My name is Aranea Henderson I work as a steam engine mechanic. Out of curiosity, what are you doing here?"

The doctor laughed, "I'm on my way home for the day shouldn't you be going home soon too?"

Aranea looked at the sun then back at the man with a look of confusion on her face. She took out her pocket watch, even if she was a girl she still needed to keep track of the time, and saw that it was only 10:40. "Sir, It's still 10:40 in the morning, why are you heading home so early?"

Dr. Ely looked at her curiously then bursted out laughing. Aranea almost pulled away in shock thinking he was going to hurt her before realizing that he was laughing at himself. "Look at me," he said in between breaths, "thinking it was yesterday after working all night, maybe I should look around myself more." Aranea silently agreed and decided that if the conversation didn't end soon that she would end it herself.

Luckily she didn't as the doctor ended it for her. "Well even though it is morning, I still need to go home and get some rest before I come back for more work, maybe if you're still here we can chat some more."

Dr. Ely walked away leaving Aranea confused and wondering about what the science center was actually like. After meeting that doctor she knew she couldn't trust all the rumors she had heard about the place. He was much nicer than she had expected. She really needed the money, if she could brave the center and pay for the rent it would be worth it. More and more now she was thinking about the center and what would actually happen if she went.


	3. Chapter 3

The next day Aranea woke up and groaned. She was not happy, a tiny mechanical spider ran past her letting off small puffs of steam. The gears made a slight clicking sound that only lasted a second as the spider stopped in front of her. Huffing Aranea stood up from the couch, effectively making the spider move. Walking to the small kitchen Aranea was met with the smiling face of Heather talking into the phone while making some pancakes.

Aranea nodded her head in Heather's direction and Heather waved the spatula, getting a bit of batter on the floor. Immediately a crowd of mechanical spiders came to clean up the drop. Aranea smiled, she had been the one to make those spiders after all and it made her proud to see them doing something that no one in the house had time to do. A door down the hall opened and the quick pounding of feet made Aranea turn around only to be run down by Nicole.

"Oh good golly miss Molly! Are those some of the famous pancakes made by Heather Moorison?!" Nicole's comment was clearly sarcastic but made Heather smile all the same. The response was a simple smile but that made Nicole jump off of Aranea and latch her arms around Heather.

"Hey sorry to cut you off, but I have to go. Bye" Heather hung up the phone being polite as usual. She placed the phone back onto its charging station and flipped the pancake in the pan.

Nicole detached from her victim and asked the that Aranea was about to make. "Do we get some pancakes today or are those just for work?" Aranea closed her mouth glad she didn't have to ask but a bit upset that she was cut off.

Heather nodded and placed the pancake on a plate that was promptly carried off by some spiders. The plate was carried off and smothered in butter and syrup for one of the girls to pick up. Nicole always claimed the first plate so Aranea didn't even try instead she picked up a spider that was flipped over. She placed it back on its feet and looked over at the cat that was calmly licking its paw outside.

"Hey Heather can I have my pancakes for the go? I need to go to the train station and make sure there are no problems with the trains." Aranea almost always asked for her pancakes rolled up with jam in the middle so that she didn't have to sit down and eat.

Heather's response was the usual nod with a little smile. Knowing that everything would be ready for her to leave quickly Aranea went to change in the bathroom. "Do you have to work today Heather?" Nicole's words came out muffled by the amount of food in her mouth. Heather nodded and placed Aranea's pancakes on the plate to be taken care of by the spiders.

Taking out a small metal card Heather pressed a few buttons and a spider came over to Nicole holding a piece of paper and a pencil. The spider moved its legs in a fashion that no normal spider could master and wrote out "I have to work overtime, need to make up time I was out for." Nicole hummed in response and took another chunk out of her pancakes.

"I'm off, see you later tonight, and make sure to have the rent card filled out by 68 tonight." Aranea tossed a glass card with a metal rim on the table and grabbed her pancakes and tools and headed out the door.

Nicole looked at the door Aranea had left through and said, "That girl is crazy." Heather nodded in agreement and started eating her pancakes.

Aranea took a bite of pancake and started walking down to the train station being careful that the jam didn't fall out the other end. She heard some footsteps that sounded like a running android and moved out of the way. A few seconds later there was the sound of metal falling to the ground and groaning. Aranea quickly turned around to see the previous running android on the sidewalk, steam no longer coming out of the fallen machine. Her legs moved without her meaning them to, and she bent down the the android carefully rolling it over so the chest cavity was exposed. After rolling over the android she opened the small compartment and waved away the steam that escaped. Placing her goggles over her eyes she looked for anything that could be obstructing the flow of steam. There was nothing, so she closed the cage and moved to the android's head. Slowly she picked up the head and placed it in her lap, and opened the back of the head. As the steam dissipated she saw what the main obstruction was. One of the gears was lodged in a smaller pipe's vent and stopping the "brain" of the android from getting enough steam.

Aranea took a pair of petite pliers and pulled the gear out making sure to not to harm the gear or vent. Unsure of where the gear should go she simply placed it in her tool box and closed the android up. Reaching back behind the android's neck she flipped the "reset" toggle and brought the android back to life.

The android sat up and released steam from the vent in it's back. It turned around until it saw Aranea and released a bit more steam. Aranea moved her goggles down to hang around her neck and smiled at the android. "W-were you the one to repair me?" The voice sounded a more tinny than it should have, Aranea thought she must have damaged the artificial vocal cords.

Taking a second the android used steam to clear its throat and let it out through its mouth, seeming to cough. Andrea smiled at the fact that she had been able to help the android. Even though she worked on trains she originally became a mechanic to work on androids, robots and the like. Realizing that she hadn't yet responded Aranea nodded her head, too happy to respond with words.

Aranea looked down at her watch and saw that she was running later than she would like. "I really have to go, I did what I could to repair you, but you should still probably get checked out."

"T-thank you, I will. Safe travels." The android turned and started running again. Glad that she was able to do what she had dreamed about she walked to the train station office with a smile.


End file.
